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Originally Posted by CELT
Speaking of Funai Ltd., they now have control of the Emerson, Magnavox and Sylvania nameplates. I bought a little Emerson TV/DVD stereo combo last year (...)
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I think all Emerson TVs and VCRs are made by Funai, but I don't think that's true of Magnavox and Sylvania TVs. I think the Magnavox brand name is still owned by Philips, and Philips makes their 'regular' TVs. I used to think the Sylvania name was also owned by Philips, but now it seems to be owned by Osram instead (or did Osram own it before, but sub-licensed it to Philips..?), but I dunno who still makes their TVs. However, I think Funai is one of the few companies that makes combo TVs, so most combos you see are made by Funai regardless of the nameplate.
Speaking of Funai, I bought a Symphonic (Funai) Hi-Fi VCR a few years ago to use as a spare. Out of curiousity I opened it up a while back and just couldn't
believe how few moving parts there were inside that thing..! Wow. Especially when you consider how the typical VHS VCR from the late 70's had such an incredible maze of belts and motors and gears, it's amazing to see how simplified they've managed to get these mechanisms. Also interesting about this VCR is the almost complete lack of connecting cables on the inside-- the mechanism portion of the VCR basically just "plugs into" the PC board just by pressing the mechanism down onto its mounting points and driving the mounting screws in place. Some of the microswitches and even the tape-end IR LED and sensor are actually mounted directly on the PC board itself rather than attached to the mechanism, presumably to reduce the number of electrical connections even further.